I received a posted comment somewhere late last month and never really got down to replying and i should apologize for that. So now i will share with you guys the questions and concerns some might face when starting their online business. This was posted by Terence:

Hi Connie,

I happened to stumbled into your interesting blog while googling on IM, eBay, etc.

Actually, I’m contemplating to quit from my job and go full time into IM. To avoid spreading myself too thin, I would focus on Affiliating Marketing (PPC/SEM) and perhaps Article Marketing (SEO). I would venture into other areas of IM only after I’ve successfully made $$$ from Affiliate/Article Marketing.

To avoid any “credit crunch”, I have set aside my living expenses/expenditure for the next 2 years or so, and a 5-figure capital to fund my initial startup for my IM venture and any other related capital expenditure like extra laptop, etc. if necessary.

What’s your advice and opinion, based on your own experience? If one were to study and practise religiously, do you think is it viable to make $$$ within a year’s time? Thanks in advance for your time! :)

Cheers,
Terence

Well Terence first i must say that you have planned ahead for this thing to work for yourself and it is great! I feel that it is important to start with one thing first and only when you are well familiar with it then you move on to another. Like myself, i did somehow resigned from my day job when i was sure that i could survive at least a year with the ongoing eBay business and at least in tough times, not having to struggle to pay the monthly necessary living expenses. I told myself that if i don’t make it in one year then i should consider going back to find a job. At least give yourself a time-frame and that will be your target. Example you wanna make $1000 in 3 months time etc…..

With consistent efforts and good learning, i don’t see why you will not succeed. In fact like what i believe in: “There is nothing such as you do your best and make efforts and get no results. If you make efforts and do your best you will see and get results! ” In Internet Marketing, action takers wins! Those who do not take action will never get anything more than they want to.

Lastly i will share with you guys the interview i did with KC Tan and i hope those who are considering venturing into Internet Marketing will be inspired motivated by my story.

1. When did you start to get into eBay business?
Actually to be honest my eBay business is really full of obstacles! The story below:

I was doing it pretty slowly on and off end of 2007 exploring the whole eBay site and then it was till end of Jan 2008 when I decided to step out of my comfort zone and resigned from my bank job.

I think that’s what they call putting yourself on the line…..Hahah then I told myself by hook or by crook I had to make it or risk going back to being an employee. But then after the resignation I started taking breaks like making long holiday trips with my mom to Japan and stock buying trips to Bangkok and the occasional KL trips….. just too lazy and I rested for 3 months whereby I play more than work. Then when I decided it’s time to get serious after resting for so long, I started selling aggressively and from May 2008 to Jun 2008 I saw tremendous improvement! It just shows that when you put in enough effort, you will get results! However around end of Jun my happiness was dampened and my accounts got suspended by eBay due to some unforeseen circumstances. I did not breach any of the regulations but I can just say what caused the suspension was due to someone’s wrong doing and in the end I still had to go about taking a lot of trouble to get my accounts back after waiting for 2 months as the person who had promised to help did not managed to do anything afterall! So then in AUG I started selling again from zero and I am happy that nothing bad has happened as yet till now.

2. What are some of the products that you are selling now on eBay?
I sell a lot of stuff meaning the quantity and not the variety. I sell merchandises like t-shirts, watches, accessories and stuff like books, collector memorabilia to some industrial related equipment. Strange but true and I am lucky being able to get the stock supply contacts from some suppliers.

3. For your top selling product, what is the profit margin per item?
Taking my top selling product- Watches- (I shall not say what brand in case of more competition hee hee) My profit margin is about 30% to 50% of the cost price. So example if the cost price for a watch is $50, I sell it at $75 and earn half more. This is taking in consideration for listing fees, postage and packaging etc. Estimate more and you will not lose. Do your research on eBay and taking note of other sellers selling similar products, note down their prices and so you can stay competitive.

4. Do you currently have a eBay or an external e-commerce store? What percentage of the overall sales are coming from these stores?
I have a total of 5 eBay stores as of now and some do better than the other. I might be starting external e-commerce site in the future for fast selling products. Overall sales seems to be 70% from stores and 30% on auctions.

5. How much time are you spending currently per day to manage your store / listing / shipping of products?
My typical day starts with checking emails and then replying to messages from buyers or people with questions for each account. Then I will do my standard listings for each account. These will take about 2 hours.

Next I will check my Paypal for the payments received and print out the shipping invoices/ labels. Then I will do the packing for each item that I need to send out. It’s all a one man show really (oops should be one gal show hee) for the time being till I get more orders or when I get sick doing it. Packing takes more time and perhaps takes me till around lunchtime. So after lunch I get a little lazy and either I check for last minute payments or just do some other internet stuff then I go to the post office around 3pm. I ship 3 times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) and on those days when I do not have to go post office, either I spend the afternoon at home doing some affiliate marketing or I go out to replenish my stocks.

6. How did you drive traffic to your listing or eBay store?
eBay is a natural traffic place and there are people looking around to buy 24/7 worldwide. I do not drive traffic to my store as I leave it on its own, I only use auction listings to attract people to my store. The other thing I do is to enclose some thank you cards in my package and ask the buyers to recommend my stores to their friends. I have many return customers with bigger orders as they are consolidating orders together with their friends and ordering one time for discount shipping.

7. What type of listing format generates the most sales for your products (BIN, normal auction etc)?
I would say the store format with BUY-IT-NOW option as I realized some people don’t like to wait for auction to end and fighting with others resulting have to pay more in the end. Usually my items are priced reasonably enough for them to BUY-IT-NOW.

8. If you were to start from zero, what are the first three steps you will take to create a successful eBay business?
Well I think I have started from zero many times already! You wouldn’t believe it but it’s true! From the day all my accounts were gone till the day I started each one painfully again, you will know what is starting from zero!!!

First you got to know what kind of products you wanna sell. It can be a piece of $0.20 sticker to an expensive item like a laptop but you have to determine your product first.

Second thing you need to do your research on eBay for similar items and find out the prices others are selling.

Third thing is to do a decent enough listing to convince people to buy from you. Since you start from zero, I take it as it is a brand new eBay account with 0 feedback as well. The listing does not have to be complicated and as long as you describe your item properly with clear pictures, it will work for you fine bringing in your first sale. You do not have to write an exaggerated marketing speech just to sell one item. Once you have some feedback, you are on your way!

9. Have you explore or use any auction sites besides eBay to sell your products? Care to share your experiences?
Not really. I only use eBay and only eBay cos I’m lazy hahah. But I do use Auctiva and I subscribe to MyStoreMaps to enhance my sales.

10. Do you have any advice to give to people who would want to start up an eBay business now?
Why not :) Get in and explore your potential as a business person! I believe that there is nothing such as you put in efforts and not see results. It will not happen unless you are damn unlucky. If you put in effort, you will see results that even you yourself will be surprised at! It is all action really. Take eBay as your basic learning curve and then develop it into a real business. I am achieving my 5 figures per month soon in such a short time and I believe you can too! Good luck!

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